Mad Wonderland
by Cassandra Telford
Summary: When Alice drank the blood of the Jabberwocky, she made the decision to return to Overland - a decision that broke Tarrant Hightopp's heart. Without Alice, the Mad Hatter sinks deeper into the darkness of his madness and his friends believe the only one who can help him is the girl who left - a girl who, despite her own adventures, hasn't been able to forget the Mad Hatter either.
1. Chapter 1

The head of the Jabberwocky lay still on the battlefield. In the distance, the Red Queen's screams and that of her knight still rang out. The White Queen stood before Alice, whose armor shimmered while the Vorpal blade shone proudly in her hand. All of the good forces of Underland stood watching as the White Queen addressed Alice – Tarrant Hightop, or as his friends knew him, the Mad Hatter, stood front and center, glowing with pride of Alice's triumph. "The blood of Jabberwocky," said the White Queen. "You have our everlasting gratitude. And for your efforts on our behalf…" She handed the girl a vial full of bright purple liquid.

Alice inspected it, then looked up at the Queen. "Will this take me home?" she asked tentatively. Unseen by her, the Hatter's eyes widened slightly, then looked down in sadness. He'd hoped Alice would at least stay to celebrate her victory.

The Queen seemed sad as well. Her lips were smiling but her eyes looked sad as she answered, "If that's what you choose." She then stood back with the Tweedles, Mallyumkin, Baynard, Chershire, and the two Rabbits and to let Alice make the decision on her own. With a smile, Alice popped the lid on the vial and started to raise it to her lips when a voice came from behind her.

"You could stay," the Mad Hatter whispered hopefully, having approached Alice from behind. He looked into her eyes with a hint of anticipation.

Alice turned to him and smiled. "What an idea. A crazy, mad, wonderful idea." The Hatter smiled at her, believing she was about to agree. But the grin slid from Alice's face and her brow furrowed as she looked down. "But I can't," she said. The Hatter felt himself grow sadder than he'd felt since Alice had left the first time. His smile too, faded as she explained, "There are questions I have to answer, things I have to do."

The Hatter's face remained carefully expressionless as without looking at him, Alice raised the vial to her lips. He wanted to stop her, to grab her hands and tell her that he wanted her to stay, not just for a while but perhaps forever. He wanted to take her into his arms and hold her as he longed to for a while now, to tell her that she could remain in Underland with him and never return to Overland, where things were frightfully strict and patterned, and hardly anyone was mad. Most of all, he wanted to tell her the feelings he had for her, though he didn't quite understand them himself. But even more than that, he wanted her to be happy, and he knew that she'd miss her life in Overland terribly is she did stay in Underland with him. So though his heart was screaming at him, he remained still and silent as she drained the vial in a single gulp. She met his eyes and smiled, saying, "Be back again before you know it."

Just her voice made the poor Mad Hatter want to weep for he knew she wouldn't come back. He forced a smile and the smallest of chuckles and said quietly, "You won't remember me."

Alice's grin faded once again and she protested, "Of course I will, how could I forget?" But Tarrant knew the truth – it had taken her over ten years to come back to Underland again after the first time, and then, she hadn't remembered a bit of it, convinced she was only dreaming and that he, the Hatter, was only a figment of her imagination. How long would it take her to return again, if she ever did at all? Without her, he might lose his head completely before that day came. He simply looked at her for a moment, and she returned his gaze, then spoke.

"Hatter?" she asked. "Why _is_ a raven like a writing desk?"

A smile played at the corner of his mouth as she remembered his riddle and he gave her the only answer he had: "I haven't the slightest idea." She smiled and for a moment he was overcome with the desire to pull her close to him and kiss her, but he held back. Instead, he leaned close to her, fighting the urge to kiss her cheek and whispered, "Fairfarren, Alice." Her brow furrowed before she understood it to mean 'farewell' and he reluctantly pulled away, both knowing and fearing it would be the last time for a very, very long time that he'd be so close to her. He stared at her for as long as he could before she faded away in front of him.

In her view, he seemed to turn to black and white and then fade away altogether, and she wished for a second that she could stop the transportation for she was almost certain he had something more to say, but the last thing she saw of him were his brilliant green eyes before he faded away from her sight completely.

On the battlefield, Tarrant stood alone, unable to tear his gaze away from the spot where Alice had been standing. One of his discolored hands reached out as though to grasp her but she was gone, and he was unsure if he'd ever see her again.


	2. Chapter 2

The wind blew Alice's hair frantically about her though at the beginning of the day it had been bound in a tight bun. Her hat lay discarded at her side as she leaned over the railing of the ship, breathing in the salty air and straining her eyes for the first glimpse of land. The sun was just starting to set as she thought back to hen she left London. Five years ago she had left on her first sea-bound venture as the partial owner of her father's company. She'd seen the world and all its wonders on her journey, but she was glad to be going home. A voice came from behind her. "It will be another hour at least before we're in sight of land, Miss Kingsleigh," said the other co-owner of the business, teasing Alice. She'd been doing nothing but standing at the rail for the past few days. He leaned over the rail next to her, looking out at the sea. "Eager to get home?"

Alice laughed and smiled. "Of course," she said. "It is an adventure to get to sail the seas and see so many new places and things, but in the end, there's no place like London."

Her business partner, Lord Ascot, smiled. "Indeed, child, indeed."

Alice turned her head to look at him with a pout on her face. "Lord Ascot, when are you going to stop calling me a child? I'm twenty-four years old now!" A smile twitched underneath her pout as she engaged him for what might have been the millionth time in their old joking debate. It had come up almost every day of the five years they'd been travelling aboard the same vessel.

With a hearty laugh, Lord Ascot said, "My dear, you will always be but a child in years compared to me – but a brilliant and ambitious one to be sure." Alice smiled. As she'd promised her sister all those years ago, she had indeed found something useful to do with her life. Lord Ascot continued, "All in fun, Alice dear, but I must say, I've come to see you as a daughter of my own." His toned turned sad. "It is very sad that your father did not live to see you reach your full potential, but I am sure this is what he would have wanted for you." The old man chuckled again. "Your father," he said with a smile. "He was a great man. Mad, yes, but a great man indeed."

Alice stared out at the sea. "Mad," she said softly. The word stirred something in her and her eyes grew far away. "Yes, mad," she continued, "but all the best people are." A vision came into her head of the last person she had quoted her father to – another mad man, completely bonkers, but perhaps the one person she wished to see again more than anyone else save her father.

Lord Ascot patted her shoulder with a sad smile, deciding to leave her to her memories. "Only a little over an hour more, dear," he said, and walked away.

Alice remained standing at the rail and staring out over the blue waves. The sunset had turned the sky a fiery shade of orange, an orange that reminded her of the hair of her very dear mad friend.

...

That night in celebration, the Ascot and Kingsleigh families dined together at the Ascot's manor house. Lord Ascot sat at the head of the table with Alice at his right hand and his wife at his left. Next to Alice sat Mrs. Kingleigh, and next to her the eldest Kingsleigh daughter, Margaret and her husband, Lowell, who'd started to behave himself properly after Alice had told him off at her "engagement party" five years ago. Across the table sat Hamish Ascot and the wife he took when Alice refused him, Fiona Chattaway. Her twin, Faith, had been invited as well out of courtesy. The dinner was grand and lively, as Lord Ascot and Alice both regaled their families with tales from their journeys – Lord Ascot's stories mostly of prosperous business deals and Alice's concerning the wonders they had seen.

Margaret, looking down the table at her younger sister, smiled mischievously and asked Alice if any of the "wonders" she had seen had been foreign men. Alice flushed and Lord Ascot laughed heartily. "Ah, yes, I was just telling young Alice the other day that her mother and sister would be so disappointed to find that we have not yet wrangled a husband for her in all of our sea-journeys. Though," he winked and nudged her, "That one fellow in Singapore seemed quite interested in you."

Alice forced a chuckle, remembering an old beggar man who spoke no English but had been fascinated by Alice's pale skin and white-blond hair. The whole table was laughing but for Lady Ascot who found such jests lewd and beneath her, and Hamish who as ever had his nose turned up. He still found it difficult to be in the same room with Alice after she had embarrassed him those years ago. He spoke with a snotty tone, as though his words were obvious, "The young Miss Kingsleigh is not quite cut out for the proper married life, I think we all know that." Margaret glared at him for his obviously snide comment, before Lady Ascot agreed.

"Hamish is right," she said, just as snottily as her son had spoken. "I think this new, rough and questionable lifestyle seems to suit Alice rather well."

"Now, dear-" Lord Ascot began at the same time that Margaret began to protest. Fiona and Faith giggled in unison while Lowell kept his head down, suppressing a chuckle of his own. Mrs. Kingsleigh looked somewhat at a loss, but Alice's voice cut clearly across the commotion.

"You're right, Hamish," she said confidently, her clear blue eyes piercing him. "I am not cut out for the proper married life. I stand by what I used to say – who's to say what is proper? If this," she gestured across the table to him and his mother and his wife, "is what is proper, then I want no absolutely no part of it." She rose, despite the protests of her mother, and continued speaking to Hamish. "I have seen many parts of the world and have learned what it is made of – madness and muchness – and you, Hamish, have neither within you. To be quite frank, you are perfectly boring."

There was a collective gasp around the table. Lady Ascot stood furiously, looking to Alice's mother, saying, "Helen, is this really how you let your daughter behave?" Helen Kingsleigh shrugged helplessly while Margaret stared at Alice with a smile of admiration. Hamish's mouth was gaping like fish's as he searched his reserved, proper brain for a response to Alice's remark and the twins giggled even harder.

Alice turned to Lord Ascot and said, "Lord Ascot, I apologize, but I do believe I need to step out for some air." The man was as speechless as his son, but with a light in his eye and smile on his lips.  
"Just like your father," he said quietly, then louder, "Of course, dear, the door to the veranda is open."  
Alice nodded and thanked him, then turned and left the table, heading out the door into the cool evening air.

...

Just as she had leaned over the ship's railing so few hours earlier, she leaned on the railing of the veranda, staring out at the perfectly manicured lawn. The stars were beginning to wink into visibility in the sky and a sharp crescent moon rose. "Cheshire…" she said sadly as she gazed at it. It seemed a lifetime ago that she'd seen the evaporating cat's grin, and that she'd stared out at a night sky from the veranda of the White Queen's palace with the Hatter at her side. That was the night she'd told him that he was only a figment of her imagination – that he didn't really exist. The terribly hurt and sad look that had appeared on his face was burned into her mind as she regretted her words now as she knew them to be untrue – for how could something unreal create such a emptiness and longing in her heart? If he hadn't been real then the pain of missing him wouldn't have been real either, but it was and it had nagged at her for five years.

She thought back to Lord Ascot's jest about her not finding a husband during their journeys. Unbeknownst to him, she'd had many suitors in many different countries – wealthy and handsome men who offered her money and power, or simply a night of fiery passion in a foreign country, but she'd refused them all. At first, she was unsure why none of them seemed to catch her interest despite their prestige and money, but she slowly realized that to her, they all seemed too plain – too clean cut, or too well-dressed, or simply too sane. And then even more slowly she began to realize that there was only one mad with enough madness and muchness to suit her desires. Returning to London also made her realize that the land of Overland, though certainly wondrous to a normal sane person who'd never seen clothed and talking animals or a bandersnatch or jabberwocky, was not enough to satisfy her longing for adventure and excitement and newness.

She'd seen vivid visions of what she still referred to as Wonderland in her mind (though she knew its true name now) in the first few months after she left it, but they'd begun to grow dimmer as time passed and she became more wrapped up in her father's business. Back here in London, on the grounds where she'd found the rabbit hole no less, the memories were back, clear as day and her longing to return to it intensified immensely. She glanced over to the hedge-maze rose garden where she'd found the rabbit hole and for a moment entertained the notion of seeking it out again, but in an uncharacteristic moment of practicality and realistic thought, she stopped herself. "Who's to say it would even still be there?" she asked herself. Then more sadly, "And who's to say anyone there would want to have me back?" But somehow she knew that at least one person would have welcomed her back with open arms.

Still looking over at the garden she sighed sadly to herself, unshed tears prickling her eyes. "Oh, Hatter," she said miserably to the night sky, "What am I to do? I missed Underland so much. And even more, I miss you."


	3. Chapter 3

Somewhere below Alice's feet at that very moment in Underland at a certain tea party, under a drooping mop of bright orange hair, a most beautiful and welcome sound fell upon a pair of pale white ears. Their owner stood, eyes wide and a lopsided smile slowly spreading across his face. "Everyone, everyone," he whispered urgently to his tea-mates, "shh, quiet."

"Hatter? What is it?" asked Mallyumkin Mouse, looking up her old friend but he only gently shushed her. He was straining to hear again the voice he could have sworn he had just heard. It had been distant and faint but he knew her voice, and though he'd imagined it many times over the past several years (that had felt like a lifetime to him) the memory hadn't had the power to light him up like the actual thing could. It had been her voice, he knew it.

"Alice?" he whispered into the silence. His bright green eyes were fixed on some far away point and so he didn't notice as his companions exchanged skeptical and in some cases pitying glances. Slowly, the Hatter's smile disappeared from his face and his eyes faded back to what had become their usual pale, weak yellow-green color. Even his hair seemed to droop as no further sign of Alice's voice was forthcoming. Everything about the Mad Hatter had seemed to diminish after Alice left. His vibrant orange hair had wilted and his normally bright green eyes had faded, giving him an almost sickly appearance. He smiled less, laughed less, had fewer outbursts and seemed less… well, mad. The change in him was obvious and much more disturbing than his madness.

Bayard and the March Hare and the White Rabbit pitied their friend Tarrant. The Rabbit and the Hare didn't really understand Tarrant's connection with Alice but new two things: the first time she'd left, he hadn't been this distressed and hopeless, and that the Hatter wouldn't be the same until she came back, but for all they knew she might never. Bayard especially felt for the Hatter, remembering his own imprisonment in the Red Queen's service when he'd been separated from his wife and pups. It was obvious to the bloodhound that the Hatter deeply cared for Alice and that this was why her absence was why he was so miserable now.

Mally had the same idea but was furious over the matter – she'd never quite liked Alice in the first place and was irate that now her dear friend was so miserable over the silly Overlander's absence. Mally care deeply for the Hatter, more so, she believed, than anyone else in their circle, and had been quite jealous that the Hatter doted so much upon Alice. The Mouse was glad that Alice was gone and thought they'd all do well to forget she'd ever existed and move on with their mad lives.

But as the savior of Underland, Alice's presence was difficult to forget. Everywhere throughout the land the triumph of the White Queen and her Champion was celebrated. For Hatter, these celebrations were only painful reminders; he'd become reclusive, very rarely leaving the grove where the tea parties were held outside his windmill house. The White Queen had used to stop by often, seeking to comfort the Hatter but eventually she could see that her offers of places of power within her kingdom would do nothing to cheer him. She instead then leave him be, hoping beyond hopes that Alice would return and set things right again.

The Cheshire Cat was the only one who betrayed no emotion concerning the whole matter. Whether he considered himself above such concerns or just really didn't care, no one could tell. Cheshire was the kind of friend who would help if it was convenient to him but might decline if the matter wasn't interesting enough. That he showed up to the party's tea every so often only demonstrated his love for tea, rather than his desire for the company.

The Cat's eyes were on the Hatter as the latter sat back down and picked up his teacup, looking thoroughly dejected. Everyone forced themselves to continue on as though nothing had happened, Mally the loudest and most revelrous of all. The Hatter looked wistfully at the teapot he'd once hidden Alice from the Knave of Hearts in. Everything in Wonderland seemed so… drab these days and he didn't really know why, but for the fact that his madness and muchness, and happiness were all nowehere to be found since the day Alice had gone. He missed her desperately, more so than he had the first time she'd left. Something had changed between them this time.

That day she'd slain the Jabberwocky, she'd said she'd be back before he knew it and he had told her that she wouldn't remember him. She'd said that of course she would, but though he'd placed a lot of hope in those words, he was starting to disbelieve them. He knew what Overland was like, from the White Rabbit's descriptions, and though he knew she'd be much more suited to life in Underland, he knew what Overland could do to people. She'd be caught up in living a proper life before she knew it, and she'd never come back. After all they'd been through together and done for each other, the though made him quite sad.

He was so sure he'd heard her voice say his name though, in a soft and almost longing tone. It was the first time he'd heard that voice in five years – the lifetime that they'd been for him – but he was certain it was her voice and not a memory or a mad delusion. It was obvious! It had been so… so Alice. It gave him a spark of hope that she remembered him and maybe was even thinking of him. Maybe she'd even come back.

From the depths of his thoughts, the Hatter heard a low and cynical chuckle. He didn't move, content to sit and think and sip his tea but Cheshire refused to let the matter bed. The Cat, with his ever present smirk, stirred his tea and said matter-of-factly, "She's not coming back, you know that, don't you, Tarrant?"

"Ches!" Mally scolded, mortified. She didn't like Alice in the least but she knew the statement would hurt Tarrant and that was the last thing she wanted.

The White Rabbit and the March Hare had fallen silent and Bayard whimpered softly, looking between the Cat and the Hatter. There was a terrible silence in which Cheshire just stirred his tea. The Hatter's eyes were momentarily hidden by the wide brim of his hat and for a moment no one was sure what was going to happen.

"Hatter?" Mally asked tentatively.

A voice strangled with sadness or barely contained rage issued from beneath the brim of Tarrant's hat: "Not coming back?" Slowly the Hatter looked up at Cheshire, his eyes turning bright orange and his voice becoming stronger and louder with every word. "What would you know about that? What would you care? It doesn't matter to you if she's here or not you gutless, Scottish-"

"Hatter!" Mally shrieked, but Tarrant was in a rage.

"—pilgerem lickering, shukem juggeling—"

"Hatter!" cried Mally anxiously as she scurried up his arm whilst the two rabbits panicked and Bayard bristled and whimpered.

"—slurking urpal – BARLOM MUCK, EGH BRIMINI—"

"Hatter!" Mally all but cried into her friend's ear, desperate to settle him. He hadn't had an outburst like this since Alice had left and she wasn't sure she'd ever seen him this angry. He froze, his eyes clearing and fading again to that pale yellow-green color. She placed a paw gently against his cheek but he only stared straight ahead.

"Sorry," he whispered in that same strangled voice as his eyes filled to the brim with unshed tears. Mallyumkin scurried down his arm and placed her paw on his hand, attempting to comfort him but he turned without another word and walked stiffly into the windmill house, closing and locking the door behind him.

*******************

Above ground in Overland, Alice was staring wide-eyed toward the garden of the rabbit-hole, straining for a sound of the voice she could've sworn she'd heard say her name only moments ago. It was crazy – one second she'd said the Hatter's name in a plea for advice and the next she could've sworn she'd heard him answering her from far off. It wasn't just crazy, it was positively mad! Before she could do something ridiculous like talk sense into herself, she said his name again, tentatively, hesitantly, but mostly hopefully. "Hatter?"

Tarrant had thrown himself down on his bed, staring out of a makeshift skylight at the multi-colored sky floating over Underland. He'd wanted so badly to believe that he'd heard Alice's voice, but Cheshire's statement had doused the hopeful spark he'd found. He rolled over on his side, unwilling to stare at the sky he'd stood under with her not really all that long ago. Underland simply wasn't Wonderland without Alice but his hope of her returning was all but gone.

Even as he lay there, he thought he heard her call out to him again, but he dismissed it. "A delusion," he whispered to himself, "a daydream, a deception, a—" he was startled to find that he couldn't think of any more apt words that began with "D" but then, he really wasn't himself anymore. "Maybe you were right, that night at the White Queen's Castle," he whispered to the darkness. "Maybe I am a figment of your imagination. Maybe I'm not… real…" The words sounded strange to him but he didn't know what else to believe. "Or maybe… you were a figment of mine…" This thought saddened him even further and a single tear slowly slid down his face and dropped onto the pillow below. "Oh, Alice," he said, voice tight with emotion. "Alice, my dear Alice, my Alice…"

"Miss Kingsleigh?"

But Alice scarcely heard her name being called. Her eyes were fixated on the distant garden for she'd heard his voice again, saying her name over and over, sounding almost as though he was crying. She found herself on the verge of tears, deluged in memories and longing. She stood unmoving at the rail of the veranda.

"Miss Kingsleigh? Alice?" It was Lord Ascot. He walked over to her. "My dear girl, your family is preparing to leave and after all your time away at sea, I daresay they shall like to take you with them." Alice looked up at him with a look of slight confusion. "Alice, what is it?"

Just then, Helen and Margaret appeared on the veranda as well. "Alice, we must be going," said Helen briskly, but Margaret noticed her sister's look too and stared back questioningly.

"Go?" Alice asked, not focused on the present conversation, her mind still with the voice that rang in her ears, her head, her heart.

"Yes, Alice, go. Home. At once," said Helen, frustrated with her daughter's lack of response.

Lord Ascot was concerned though. He knew Alice was one to daydream but this was out of the ordinary even for her. "Alice, what's wrong?"

"I—" she stammered. "I…" She looked from Lord Ascot to her mother, to her sister and back, as Hamish, the Chattaway twins, and Lowell came out onto the veranda, curious as to what was taking so long. "I'm sorry," Alice stuttered, "There's something I have to do." Without another word she turned and dashed down the veranda steps and out across the lawn toward the garden, her hair flying in the wind, her skirts whipping up around her ankles, all as it had once been on that fateful day five years ago when all she knew was that she was running away from a marriage proposal.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a chorus of shouts of her name behind her but she didn't stop running.

"Alice Kingsleigh, you come back this instant!" shouted Helen Kingsleigh, mortified at her daughter's oddness and disobedience. She may have been a young lady but Helen was still her mother and as such, Helen could not believe that Alice was, again, just running off like this.

Lady Ascot turned up her nose and seemed equally stunned. "You see, Helen, this is what you get when you let your daughter run off overseas to do Heaven knows what!"

"Darling, please," Lord Ascot said, gently hushing his wife.

"She has no sense of dignity or propriety at all!" Hamish scoffed, while the Chattaway sisters, as always, giggled behind their hands. "I'm glad I married a woman with at least a bit more sophistication than that… girl," Hamish continued, nodding at Fiona who stopped laughing immediately, attempting to figure out if that had been a compliment or an insult.

"Hamish…" Margaret Kingsleigh started angrily, but Lord Ascot cut in, having had enough of his wife and son's unkindness.

"Hamish Ascot, I have been around the world with that brilliant and remarkable young woman and will not tolerate a cross word about her in this house."

Helen, meanwhile, was still yelling after her daughter, but Lord Ascot knew better. When Alice was in one of her moods, nothing would sway her. He watched her run across the lawn, her blond hair flowing out behind her in the moonlight, and held her in his heart as closely as he would his own daughter.

"Alice is a free spirit," he said as everyone quieted. "She goes where she will with not a thought of what others will think. She lets her imagination and her dreams…" Lord Ascot paused as he remembered something, something Alice had shared with him a few times during all their days away at sea. A rabbit hole, another world, one of magic and other unbelievable, impossible, mad things… "My goodness," he said, speaking more to himself than the people around him. "She's going back to Wonderland!"

Alice ran as though everything in the world depended on it. She was certain she'd heard him, the Mad Hatter, calling her name and she wanted desperately to find him. The garden gate drew closer and closer and soon she was pushing it open and stepping into the labyrinthine hedge rose garden. The moon didn't shine as brightly under the towering hedges, but as she walked it, she remembered step-for-step the path she'd taken five years ago that had led her to the Rabbit Hole.

She stumbled once or twice over some fallen branches but kept her pace quick, her heart racing from exertion or emotion or longing. Alice felt as though a warmth had grown in her heart and had begun spreading throughout her body as images of Underland flashed through her head.

The grinning cat, the late rabbit and the crazy hare, the feisty little mouse, the delicate queen and her gaurds… and one image kept repeating until it was all she could see: a mop of bright orange hair under a very distinctive top hat… stained pink fingers and deep-set bright green eyes on a pale face…

There was silence around the tea table for a moment before the White Rabbit glared at Cheshire. "Now look what you've done, Chessur!"

Bayard growled slightly. "Yeah, cat. We all know she's not-"

Apparently unfazed, the cat flicked his tail back and forth and cut across the hound's speech. "All these years he's known me and he doesn't know enough to know that he shouldn't always believe me?"

"-coming back but you don't have t—wait, what?" Bayard and everyone around the table gave Cheshire questioning looks.

Cheshire only chuckled and stirred his tea. "She remembered everything after ten years last time. You think she'll forget so easily? Alicccccee—" he drew the word out into a hiss, grinning, "will, just as she said, be back before we know it."

There was a collective "Whhhaaaaaatttt?" as Cheshire disappeared slowly, still chuckling. The only one not paying attention was Mallyumkin, whose gazed had been fixed on the windmill door since it had clicked shut.

She suddenly leapt off the table and scurried to the windmill, squeezing under the door quietly. Once inside, she stood up on two legs again. "Hatter?" she whispered. She could see his green-yellow eyes shining in the half light as he lay unmoving on his bed. "Tarrant…" she said sadly. It was not often she called him by his real name, but she wasn't sure what else to say. She scurried over to his bed and up the leg, coming to sit on the mattress close to his face. Her paws felt wetness and she looked down and realized that the covers were spotted with tears. Part of her was angry that Alice meant so much to the him but his happiness meant more to her than her jealousy, which still left her angry because Alice left him unhappy. "Hatter, it's going to be ok," she said, trying to believe her own words as she spoke them. It was so hard for her to see him this way. He didn't respond though his frown grew a little more pronounced. "Hatter, please," Mally pleaded, but he simply rolled over on his bed.

"Leave me alone, Mallyumkin," he said not unkindly but very glumly

"Hatter…" The mouse scurried up her friend's back and onto his shoulder and stood there looking down at his face. He stared blankly out in front of him, his eyes still glossy with tears. Mallyumkin was getting fed up with the whole situation, desperately frustrated and heartbroken. She put her hands on her hips and stomped her paw on the Hatter's shoulder. "Hatter, please! Don't be so sad over the silly girl!"

Though he didn't move, the Mad Hatter's eyes darted toward the mouse and slowly clouded over with orange as anger rose within him, but Mallyumkin was oblivious in her tirade. "So she killed the Jabberwocky, so what? I coulda' done it! And besides, we were all fine and dandy before she came along anyway!"

"Mallyumkin…" There was a clear warning in Tarrant's voice but Mally didn't notice.

The Hatter sat up slowly as Mally scurried back down his arm, looking up at him again from the bed as he sat, glaring down at her, his eyes slowly becoming more and more red. "The Red Queen is gone and we should be happy, not wasting time being sad because that girl isn't here. She's just a silly Overlander, Hatter, she doesn't belong here anyway!"

Suddenly the Hatter leaned down to the mouse's level, his eyes a glaring red, and growled, "Don't talk about my Alice that way!"

Mallyumkin froze and stared up at the Hatter, her face in shock. Slowly his eyes cleared, faded back to yellow-green and he leaned away from the mouse. Mally's mouth gaped for a moment before she stuttered, "Y-… Your Alice?" The dormouse thought she would burst into tears on the spot but was too shocked.

"My Alice…" repeated the Hatter. He nodded to himself, almost not seeing Mallyumkin anymore as he got caught up his own thoughts. He looked away as his eyes filled up with tears again.

As Mallyumkin recovered from her shock, she looked up at him. Her heart was broken inside but she couldn't stand to see her dear friend that way too. She rested a paw on his leg and once she felt she could speak without crying she said, "Don't be worried, Tarrant. Don't let Cheshire mess with your head." She took a deep breath, still calming her own emotions, and rattled on to fill the awkward silence. "Ches always knows something we don't and he certain she'll be coming back and he was just playing with your mind, Hatter and…"

But the Hatter had lit up, his eyes bright green again. "Coming back?" He scooped Mallyumkin up in his hands and looked at her. "Did you say 'coming back'?"

Mallyumkin nodded, careful not to betray any emotion. "Cheshire said he's sure of it." For a second she believed that the Hatter would get his muchness back, but before she knew it, he slumped and faded again.  
"No, Mally," he said. "She doesn't remember me."

With all her heart Alice wanted to see that face again, to see him again, and as she thought of him she heard his voice calling her name twice more, sounding closer and close. She ran faster and faster until finally, she found it: the tree and the Rabbit Hole.

Kneeling at it, bracing herself on the tree roots, she called tentatively, "Hatter?" There was only silence and a gaping black hole before her. "Hatter," she called, more insistently, "Hatter, can you hear me?" Again there was no response but it didn't dampen her spirit in the slightest. "Oh, I know you can!" she said, more to herself this time. Alice took one more look at her surroundings and then looked back at the Rabbit Hole. "Don't worry, Hatter," she whispered. "I told you I wouldn't forget you."

And without further ado, she braced her arms against the ground and slid feet first into the Rabbit Hole.

The Hatter sank onto his bed and back into his memories as he heard Alice's voice calling him again. "Madness," he said to himself. "I am completely bonkers. She told me so…"

Leaving Hatter to his mumbling, Mallyumkin was at a loss as she slipped back out under the windmill house door and back to the tea table. She sat, looking dejected. "I don't know what we can do anymore," she said to the table. "Unless Alice does come back, Tarrant will never be the same…" She stared into her teacup, not seeing as everyone exchanged meaningful glances, knowing that if the Hatter didn't find his muchness again, Mally surely wouldn't either, and they couldn't let two of their closest friends live on in Underland in misery.

"We'll… go get her!" tittered the March Hare.

"What?" The White Rabbit looked curiously at his more mad counterpart.

"Alice is coming, Chessur, he said! We'll go get her, bring her back!"

Mally looked skeptical but the White Rabbit nodded. "He said he heard her, and we were able to retrieve her last time. Mally, who's to say we couldn't do it again?"

The dormouse took a deep breath. "Do you really think it will help him find his muchness again?"

"It will be better for him than anything else could be, Mallyumkin."

She nodded and looked at him. "Then what are we waiting for?"

And in a flash, the Rabbit and the Hare, and Mally riding on Bayard's back, were off to get Alice.


	5. Chapter 5

Alice was ready for the fall down the Rabbit Hole this time, but it was still a little startling as she passed all manner of objects one would not expect to find in a hole in the ground. She was able to maneuver well enough to not be slammed into any bookcases but the trill of the grand piano surprised her a bit as she fell past it. Still, it seemed as though she could not travel fast enough, now that she was on her way back to Wonderland and the man she had wanted to see for so long.

Alice braced herself as she fell through the ceiling/floor of the Room of Doors and the fall didn't hurt as bad this time. She jumped up and brushed herself off, running over to the table with the bottle of Pishalver potion on it, the shrinking potion. She took the tiny door key in one hand and uncorked the bottle, raising it to her lips with her other hand and draining it.

Immediately, something felt wrong. The taste of the potion was off and seemed to burn throughout her entire body. The world grew around her as she shrunk smaller and smaller. The strange feeling seemed to dissipate as soon as it had come, and Alice chalked it up to nerves. Crawling out of the pile of her clothing, she was once again clothed in a kind of undergarment. She tied it snugly about her waist and around her collarbone, then started toward the door. She paused, doubled back for the pastry boasting the words "Eat Me", the Upelkuchen, tucked it away in the folds of her dress and then ran to the door, unlocking it and stepping once again into Wonderland.

Everything was as she remembered – brightly colored and oddly shaped. She began to walk and then stopped. This is where she'd been attacked by the bandersnatch – it felt like lifetimes ago but still she clutched her right arm, remembering the ever-so-real pain of her "dream" – and because of its interference, she didn't properly remember the route she had taken to get to the Hatter's tea party. For a moment she just stared but with a smile she started walking. She was sure she would somehow find it again. Being in Wonderland again invigorated her, filled her with an emotion so joyful she could barely describe it. She wanted to shout, to dance, to Futterwacken, but even more she wanted to run until she saw his face again.  
"Hatter?" she called out as she walked onward, not exactly sure where she was going but sure she'd get there. "Hatter, can you hear me?" She strained to hear an answer. Then, from the distance:

"Alice?"

Alice was somewhat disappointed to hear not the Mad Hatter's voice but that of McTwisp, the White Rabbit. It did hearten her though – she'd found her old friends. "McTwisp?" she called out, walking toward where the sound had come from.

A chorus of voices answered her and out of the brush bounded McTwisp, the March Hare, and Bayard with Mallyumkin riding on his back. At her two feet tall, Alice was smaller than the two Rabbits and just about as tall as Bayard. Bayard bounded up to Alice, nearly tackling her as he licked her hands.

"Alice!" shouted the McTwisp and the March Hare in unison, the latter of which drifted into maniacal laughter. The only one who wouldn't speak was Mallyumkin. Her face was tight as she slid off of Bayard's back and stood off to the side. She knew that Alice's presence was the only thing that would stand a chance of helping Tarrant, but that didn't mean she enjoyed Alice's company any more than usual. The Dormouse wasn't the only one with Tarrant on her mind either.

Blushing lightly and attempting to sound like it really didn't make a difference to her, Alice asked, "Where is the Hatter?" Bayard and McTwisp shared an uncomfortable glance and the March Hare looked around wildly, not knowing what to say. Mallyumkin angrily dug her needle-sword into the ground though.

"Not here, obviously," she said up at Alice. "Cheshire told us you'd be coming back so we came to get you but Tarrant," the second she said his voice, her face dropped slightly and her tone became less angry, more concerned. "He's locked himself in his house, he won't speak to anyone but himself. And it's all your fault!" The Mouse's tone changed abruptly and she was once again shouting at Alice. "We'd have been better off if  
you had never come!"

Alice took an involuntary step back though at her present height she was still taller than Mallyumkin. "He… locked himself in his house?" she asked, concern streaking her features. This much was true, and the Rabbits and Bayard all nodded sadly.

"That's why we knew we had to come get you," said McTwisp. "You always bring out the best in him, Alice! He'll be glad you're here."

But Alice's mind was reeling. _Cheshire told us you'd be coming back… he's locked himself in his house, he won't speak to anyone… _Her eyes darted unseeingly from side to side as she thought. _He… he doesn't want to see me… _The very thought broke her heart and for a moment she thought she would burst into tears. But if he hadn't wanted to see her, why would he have been calling her name? Maybe she was as mad as he was, delusional and hearing things. She looked back to the door she'd just came through, considering leaving again so as to not inflict her presence on the Underlanders, particularly the man she wanted to see the most.

The March Hare saw her gaze though and said loudly, "Ay, Alice, you canna' be going back yet! You have to see the Hatter!" This was the most the March Hare had ever said to her and she stared at him with wide eyes.

"But…" She paused. "But, if he's shut himself away… He probably doesn't want…" she couldn't bring herself to say 'to see me' so she instead finished, "company."

"Two's company and three's a crowd but Alice is not three or two, Alice, you are you!" said the March Hare in a giddy sing-song voice.

Bayard nudged Alice's leg gently. "Go on, Alice, he really does want to see you. He's been miserable since you left."

None of it made sense to Alice anymore. If what Mallyumkin had said was true, then the second he'd heard of her return, her dear friend had shut himself away. Could she really impose on him if he so obviously wanted nothing to do with her?

"Alice," said the White Rabbit, his voice growing more and more anxious as he spoke. "Please. None of us know what to do anymore. You're the only thing that can help him."

Mallyumkin pulled her needlesword out of the ground again and examined it, avoiding everyone's eyes. "He's ill," she said quietly, sounding almost as though she was about to cry. "He's not our Tarrant anymore, he's changed." Her eyes were hard as she looked up at Alice. "He won't talk to me," she said furiously as though it was Alice's fault.

"Please, Alice," McTwisp all but begged her. "You're the only one who can help."

As though the wind was echoing the White Rabbit's pleas, Alice heard the Hatter's voice again, quieter now and fainter, but sounding so much more close all the same. _Alice, Alice, Alice… _it whispered. This sound gave her the motivation she needed. If the Hatter was ill, she'd help him become well again and after that… well, if he didn't want to see her again, she'd find some way to cope with that later. It wasn't important now though. She pulled the Upelkuchen out of her dress and ate a little bit of it, growing back to her "right-proper-Alice-size" - though she experienced a peculiar burning sensation again that was not at all pleasant. Ignoring it, she nodded at her friends. "Let's go."

And indeed, away they went.

It took the group only something more than an hour to reach the tea party garden, but to Alice it felt like ages. Her legs ached and her lungs burned. Still, she found the strength to shout, "Hatter!" as the approached the table. All the seats were vacant, but the sight of the large one at the end where the Hatter always sat both cheered her and chilled her. If he was anywhere, it would be there, she thought, but she turned her gaze to the dark shape of the windmill and its dark windows. She'd never really noticed it before but now that she thought about it, it must've been where the Hatter lived. She looked at her companions and they gestured for her to go in, and then busied themselves around the tea table. Only Mallyumkin stood frozen, watching Alice.

The girl approached the door and knocked softly. "Hatter?" she called through the crack between the door and its frame. No answer was forthcoming. Alice slowly and softly opened the door. It was dark inside – beams from outside pierced the gloom like spears, throwing dust into sharp relief. "Hatter?" she called again quietly, stepping forward.

Mallyumkin watched as Alice disappeared within the Hatter's house, her heart going mad with jealousy. There was silence for a moment, then from within the darkness of the house came a wail of sadness.

Everyone looked up and then rushed forward, crowding around the door. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw the form of Alice with her back to them. Slowly she turned, her face in anguish, and in her hands, the Mad Hatter's infamous hat. Clutched in her other hand was a small piece of paper with an untidy scrawl. Staring at all of them, Alice didn't move but said almost inaudibly, "'I'm going mad and won't come back,' it says." She held up the hat slightly, tenderly. "He's not here," she whispered. "He's gone."


	6. Chapter 6

_Hours earlier…_

Tarrant listened as Mally's footsteps receded and finally faded out of his hearing – she'd gone outside. He was alone. His eyes were wide, staring into the darkness. _Alone. _He'd always had his friends and then there was… but now, things were different. His heart had been so happy whenever Alice was around, but without it her, it deflated. His chest felt empty and hollow. Her voice kept coming back to him, whispering _"Hatter…"_ over and over again. Taunting him, so it seemed. He threw a pillow over his ears but he could still hear voice and it was driving him even more out of his head.

"She doesn't remember me," he mumbled to himself, over and over again as though begging for it to be true. He didn't want it to be, but if it was, he didn't want his mad mind to get his heart's hopes up. If he could convince himself she was gone for good, maybe her voice would stop tormenting him.

"Alice," he whispered, he voice weak and broken sounding. All the Hatter wanted with all his heart was to see her again but after what Cheshire had said… and Cheshire knew things that none of them did as it was easier for him to travel and overhear things. _She's not coming back,_ he had said. Tarrant cried out in anger or pain, curling himself as tightly as possible as though to stifle the pain in his heart, and in the process his hat fell off of his head, tumbling to the floor. He wanted to weep. He shouldn't have let her go that day on the battlefield and Tarrant regretted it more than anything else in his life. The Hatter replayed the scene over and over again in his mind, imagining what could've happened if he'd only insisted she'd stay. He should've taken her into his arms and held her there, told her how he truly felt and begged for an answer about if she felt the same. If she didn't, he wouldn't have forced her to stay but if she did, he'd have pleaded with her until he had no more breath.

"Alice!" he cried, more urgently. "Oh, come back to me," he sighed as he heard her calling his name yet again. He never should've let her drink that Jabberwocky blood. The White Queen never should have given it to her; she should have left well enough alone! If Alice had wanted to go home, she would've asked for a way, not just happened upon it! But then a thought struck the Hatter. Alice could've stayed. No one had forced her to drink the blood of the Jabberwocky. It had been her choice. She'd wanted to go back, back to Overland. She'd wanted to leave.

The Hatter's eyes grew wide as he realized what this meant. He sat up slowly, staring into the gloom of his room but not seeing it, seeing only her face as it had faded away in front of him those years ago. She'd chosen Overland over him. Maybe she didn't feel the same way after all.

His breathing slowly became more agitated, more quick, and his eyes clouded over red-orange. It wasn't fair. Alice didn't belong in Overland, it was obvious. She knew that when she was little and had first come to her Wonderland. But the years, the world above must've changed her. Overland had changed her, made her forget where she truly belonged. And though she'd started to realize it, it seemed, the White Queen had gone and given her the Jabberwocky blood and let her leave, after forcing her to do all that fighting and… The Hatter's thought's swirled, become more and more uncontrollably mad and angry. In a rage, he stood, shouting her name to the sky above. "ALICE!" he shouted furiously, with an anger not at her but the worlds that were keeping them apart. He tore through his house like a storm, knocking over old broken sewing machines and busts piled high with hats, and no one was there to stop his rage. He continued destroying everything in his sight until his eyes alighted on his two-handed longsword. He picked it up, remembering the last time he wielded it. His rage subsided but his eyes still glowed orange.

He remembered the feel of it sliding into the Jabberwocky's tail when… she had fallen – strictly against the rules of a Champion-vs-Champion fight, but he couldn't have just let her die. And he remembered the clang of its metal against the Ilosivich Stayne's sword, the weight of it in his hands as he'd been about to thrust it through the heart of the Knave of Hearts, having been stopped from this murder only by the fact that at that moment, she had slain the Jabberwocky. He held it up, his own reflection peering back at him through the gloom. His eyes swirled between orange and yellow-green. The turmoil within him was almost uncontainable and then he heard her voice calling his name again.

"Hatter…" it called softly, sounding much more clear and closer. Again, louder now, "Hatter!" And that was when Tarrant knew he had to leave. These memories, delusions, dreams, were tied to the things that reminded him of her, he was certain of it. If that was what it took then, he'd leave the tea party garden, leave all of the places he'd been with her. He'd even leave his friends behind. There was a set to his shoulders and a hard look on his face that hadn't been there before as his eyes continued to flash between angry and sad. The desire to forget filled him, because remembering was far too painful now that he knew she wouldn't come back, now that he knew she… didn't want to.

He had no need to pack – he'd find food if need be and nothing in his house was particularly valuable to him. He'd take his sword though, for he didn't know where he'd go or what kind of creatures he'd meet or have to face. At this point though, he wasn't sure he'd even try to defend himself if any kind of creature attempted to attack him. Nothing seemed important anymore. He didn't feel very… mad – contrariwise, he felt very bland, very normal, very Overlandish. He stopped only to scratch out the words, "I'm going mad and won't come back" onto a slip of paper. Tarrant was determined to forget and that meant he had to be by himself for the rest of forever, however short or long that would be. He looked around one last time and his eyes fell on his hat.

So many memories were in every stitch of that hat, it's magnificent handiwork and many accessories. He knew he'd have to leave it behind. He was no longer so mad and not a hatter. He'd shuck the title just as he'd shed his memories of her and everything that had been good in his life. He leaned over and set the note on top of it, then turned and without a backward glance, Tarrant Hightopp stepped out the back door and into Underland for what he believed to be his last adventure.


	7. Chapter 7

Four pairs of eyes just stared at Alice as the girl stood in the doorway, staring at the hat in her hands and completely at a loss for what to say.

"Gone?" the White Rabbit, McTwisp, asked curiously as though he didn't understand the word.

"GONE?" shrieked Mallyumkin Mouse, her voice an octave higher than usual. She squeaked and dashed past Alice, into the gloom of the Hatter's house. Almost instantly, the March Hare and White Rabbit followed her, spinning Alice around as they went. Bayard followed them but more slowly, whining softly and stopping at Alice's heels, looking up at her and nuzzling her leg. "NO!" came Mally's shriek from the darkness as they all ventured further into the gloom and found her staring at a set of brackets on the wall, a set of brackets which until fairly recently had been occupied. Alice looked up at them, uncomprehending.

"He took his sword with him," McTwisp said in a quiet but nervously squeaky voice. Bayard whined more loudly and the March Hare, Thackery trembled so hard that he looked as though he'd fall to pieces. Mally just stared up at the wall, but suddenly she turned on Alice.

"This is all your fault, you stupid girl! YOU LEFT HIM!" Mally burst into tears and ran out the door.

This outburst shook Alice out of her stupor and looked round at the two rabbits and Bayard. "My… but he…" Again Alice's thoughts were twisting around Mally's earlier words that they'd been told she'd return and the Hatter had locked himself away. He hadn't wanted to see her and everyone else was simply mistaken. But her heart ached; was her presence really such a terrible thing that the Hatter would just leave?

They only shrugged their shoulders but when she looked away, they all shared a knowing glance. "We'll find him, Alice," said McTwisp, not feeling as certain as his words sounded, "but you must help us. You're the only thing that can help him now."

"But he… if he left, he must not want to see me…" Alice mumbled to herself, running her fingers over the intricate stitching of his hat.

"Alice!" Thackery shouted. She jolted and looked at him. "He needs you!" It sounded so simple coming from the crazy Hare's mouth.

"He is ill, Alice, very much so," McTwisp said quietly, moving toward her through the gloom. He placed a paw gently on her hand. "Thackery's right. He really does need you."

"I never should have come back," Alice said, tears starting in her eyes but Bayard howled softly.

"No, Alice, you had to come back. You have to help him, you're the only one who can," he said.

"He left his hat," Mally's voice came from the doorway. The fur underneath her eyes was streaked with tears and she shook with anger but seemed to be in better control of herself. "Alice," her voice trembled. "Alice… we've tried. We've all tried to help him. Even the White Queen has. But… he's just gotten worse. And I… I'm afraid for him. He took his sword but he left his hat." Mally's eyes filled with tears again and she swallowed, forcing a lump from her throat so she could speak. "He's ill, Alice. That sword… he never touches it, he hasn't since the battle, and before then it had been years." Mally looked around at everyone. "The truth is… it scares him. He may be mad but he hates to be angry. Ever since he almost killed Stayne with it… the idea that he almost killed, that rage he felt that day… It scared him, and it was because of you, Alice." McTwisp scowled and Bayard growled but there was no venom in Mallyumkin's voice. "He wanted to protect you, that's why he got so angry."

Alice blushed, but to her it was only further proof that her presence was not good for the Hatter.

"He needs to see you, Alice," continued Mally, her demeanor almost shattering with the pain she was feeling. Her words were contradicting Alice's thoughts, but Alice's heart went out to the Dormouse. Mally looked up into Alice's eyes. "Alice, please. Please, help him." Tears were streaming down her face again.

"I—I –" Alice stammered. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Well, we'll have to find him first."

***

It didn't take the Hatter long to reach the place where the White Queen had first fallen to the Red Queen – the place where he'd seen so many of his kinfolk slaughtered and the place where he had helped convince… her that she had to help them by slaying the Jabberwocky. He didn't know why he'd returned to the little grove, he hadn't meant to. He'd simply let his feet take him where they wanted to. He stared around the clearing. The surrounding trees and the ground still bore scorch marks and there wasn't a single blade of green grass. The Hatter's eyes settled to a lukewarm orange as the anger at the memory of that horrible day overtook him, but even that wasn't strong enough to block out the pain of… he refused to think about it but it was all he could think about.

He sat down on a stump and stared at the clearing, seeing everyone dancing there as if it had just been yesterday, and unbidden came the image of her dancing among them, dressed in the finery of the Hightopp clan. She danced and spun and laughed joyously before spinning herself into the imaginary Tarrant's waiting arms. The real Hatter's eyes filled with tears but they did not spill. He blinked and shook his head in frustration, letting out a bitter laugh.

And then there came a sound from behind him and his eyes flared a brighter, more furious orange. "Who's there?" he growled with a Scottish brogue, standing and whipping around, his sword at the ready…


	8. Chapter 8

The motley crew of the two rabbits, the dormouse, the hound, and the human began the search for their lost friend, even though he didn't seem to want to be found. It was no problem for Bayard though, whose nose picked up the Hatter's distinctive scent instantly. He lead the group along at a fair pace, sometimes running ahead and then doubling back as Mally and Alice couldn't cover ground quite as fast as Bayard and the rabbits could. As they walked, Alice began to note the changes in scenery – the path seemed familiar to her and she couldn't place it for a while until –

"Oh!" she cried. They were close to the spot, the clearing where the Hatter had recited to her part of the legend of the Jabberwocky. It would make sense that he'd be there, that was where he'd last seen a lot of his family. Knowing they were quite close, she dashed ahead, passing a confused Bayard, calling out "Hatter!" despite still feeling that he didn't want to see her.

The others thought she'd seen some sign of him and followed her quickly but found her standing there in the clearing, staring at the ground in front of her. "Alice, what—" McTwisp started but then he saw what Alice had been looking at.

"No," whispered Mallyumkin, "No, Hatter."

There on the ground in front of them were strewn several small but quite distinct items: three hat pins, a broken string of brightly colored thread spools, and a ring that featured a tiny pin cushion. Splotched around and on them were patches of nearly dried dark red liquid.

Thackery shook with nervous, sad emotion, and McTwisp took one look at the blood and passed out. Bayard howled with sadness and frustration, and Alice just stared, her eyes wide, unshed tears prickling her eyes. "No," she said firmly. Mallyumkin looked up at her and Alice just continued to stare at the objects. "No. He's not…" she couldn't say the words, but Mally nodded, knowing what Alice was trying to say. "We'd know if he was." She looked around for the most readily available pair of eyes to reassure her and met Mally's.

Mallyumkin nodded and, in the moment forgetting her anger toward Alice, put a paw against her leg. "We'd… we'd have felt it somehow if he had, you know…" she said quietly and Alice nodded back.

"We have to keep looking," the girl said. "This trail should…" she gulped back more tears, gesturing at the blood, "should be easy enough to follow." She shook herself slightly and put on her business face. "Bayard," she said in a formal voice, "it would be good for you to return to the White Queen's castle at Marmoreal and tell her what's been going on. If something's happened to the Hatter, we may very well need her help. Take Thackery with you and between the two of you, somehow get McTwisp back there." At the mention of his name the March Hare looked up at Alice and then to Bayard and nodded.

"Yes, yes, the White Queen, the White Queen will know what to do," he blathered. Bayard nodded up at Alice.

"Are you sure you'll be able to follow the trail well enough?" the hound asked.

"Yes, Bayard. The trail… looks like it stays pretty clear," she said, trying not to think of what that meant for the Hatter. Bayard nodded and looked at Thackery who had pulled McTwisp onto his back crossways.

"Fairfarren, Alice," Bayard said and then took off toward Marmoreal with Thackery hot on his heels, moving surprisingly fast for having the White Rabbit on his back.

Alice looked down at Mally who had regained some of her animosity toward Alice but was attempting to focus on the task ahead of them. Alice then leaned down and picked up the string of spools, fastening them crossways across her torso like the Hatter had worn them, and the ring. She held it in her right hand, wanting to slip it onto the ring finger of her left but at the same time she knew that wouldn't be right. She shook her head, biting back more tears and leaned down to Mally. "Will you hold onto this?" she asked the dormouse, who had fastened the hat pins to her belt so she now had several vicious-looking sword. Mally looked up at Alice in surprise, softening a bit in gratitude and nodded, taking the ring and slinging it over her shoulder. Then without another word the two began to follow the gruesome trail, both quietly praying that the Hatter was indeed still alive.

***

The Hatter awoke in a dark, cold place. His face was sticky with blood dripping from a gash across his forehead and several more similar gashes bled all over his body. His clothes were torn and stained with dirt and yet more blood, his hat pins, ring, coat, and string of spools were missing, and his whole body ached terribly. Blinking in the darkness, he had no idea where he was but slowly became away that he was chained to a rough wall behind him, bound at his wrists and slumped in a sitting position. It was almost like a cave… it seemed to actually be a cave, as occasionally drafts of fresh air would blow through only to be replaced in seconds by the dank stink of stagnant water and the remains and leavings of cave-dwelling creatures. It was mostly dark but there was a bracket on the wall with a single, sad torch burning, throwing strange shadows over everything.

He tried to remember what had happened but the memory was fuzzy and his head throbbed. Someone had tried to grab him in the grove, and he'd fought back, landing a couple glancing blows with his sword but nothing to stop his attacker. He'd been forced to the ground before the blow to his head which had knocked him out. Scrapes along his front indicated that he'd been dragged along the ground to… wherever it was that he was.

Had this happened to him years ago, he might have been worried, or wondered who would attack him, or why there had been an ambush waiting, but he didn't care. His eyes pulsed softly with a light orange flicker but soon faded back to the sickly pale green-yellow they'd come to know as natural in the years since she had left. A shadow appeared on the opposite wall – apparently someone was coming toward the cave-room in which he was bound. The Hatter didn't stir. He didn't care what happened to him anymore.

The footsteps entered the room along with the rustling of fabric and suddenly a voice said, "So you're awake, are you?"

The Hatter thought nothing could startle him anymore but this voice did. He looked up and there was the face to match the voice. "You!" he said out of sheer disbelief. The dress, tattered but still scarlet, the smudged but still bright makeup, the ridiculously bulbous head – there was no mistaking the Red once-Queen.


	9. Chapter 9

The Mad Hatter could barely believe his eyes, but it was indeed Eracabeth of Crims, the Red menace herself. Banishment didn't look as though it had treated her so well in the past five years. She seemed to have aged more than she should have, and she looked half-insane herself as she stared with a cruel smile at Tarrant, her hands on her hips, her bulbous head seeming only to grow in the small space. "You, Hatter, interfered with one too many of my plans while that crown was on my beautiful head," she said matter-of-factly in her high pitched voice. "If it hadn't been for you and that blasted sword of yours—" Tarrant vaguely noticed its absence, "—my dear Jabberwocky would've killed that stupid little girl where she fell!"

Anger stirred in the Hatter and once again his eyes flared orange – if there was anything that could make him truly feel anymore, it was Alice, and he had been trying so desperately to quench those feelings and forget her but the sound of someone else speaking ill of her thoroughly enraged him. "She's not stupid!" he shouted, straining against his chains.

"Oh my," the Red Queen tittered, taking a step back, "someone's got to learn to watch his temper." Her tone grew colder. "Not that it matters. I'm going to kill you anyway," she continued, glaring at Tarrant. "But not without making use of you first. My dear sister Miriana no doubt sees some kind of value in you – she'll surely relinquish the terms of my banishment to keep that ugly head of yours properly attached to your shoulders. And once she makes the Royal Decree, it will be off with your head!" she hissed, leaning close to the Hatter. His anger was beginning to subside though and he only shrugged. He didn't really care what she did to him, he didn't really care if he died.

The Red Queen was not altogether surprised at his lack of concern because in her mind, he was a bit too daft to really understand the situation, but she was frustrated because she wanted him to suffer greatly before he died and apparently the threat of death didn't cause any kind of anxiety in him at all.

She stomped her foot and screamed, "STAYNE!" and to the Hatter's minimal surprise, Ilosivich Stayne came into the room behind the queen, bearing the Hatter's own sword. Tarrant's eyes watched the blade, remembering when he'd nearly plunged it into the heart of the Knave of Hearts and thinking savagely that he should've just done it but the anger quickly faded away again. Nothing really mattered. Alice wouldn't come back and he was going to die. Her voice kept repeating his name in his head and he tried to block it out for the sake of his heart but it was so hard.

"Stayne," the Red Queen continued, "now that we know the castle at Salazen Grum is unguarded, we'll return there with the rest of the Red Rebellion force. I want you to send one of our soldiers to Marmoreal with a ransom note. Tell them that if I do not receive a Royal Decree of the lift of my banishment at Salazen Grum in three days, the Hatter will lose his head."

"Already lost it," the Hatter mumbled quietly out of sheer habit.

The Red Queen aimed a kick at the Hatter leg and he winced when it connected with one of his wounds. "Then," she said, "when we've transferred him to the dungeon there, you may do whatever you want to him short of killing him. And Stayne," she said, looking up at the knight with a simpering voice and girlish pout, "make sure you make him suffer."

Stayne, who was apparently over his aversion to the Queen or else hiding it very well said, "With pleasure, Red Queen," and smiled evilly at the Hatter who only stared at the floor with uncaring eyes.

The two exited the room and plans were made to move to Salazen Grum. A card knight came into the Hatter's cave and he vaguely realized that some of the card knights must have retained their loyalty to the Queen after the battle of the Champions. The knight knocked out the Hatter with a swift blow and unchained him, so that he could be dragged off the dungeons of the remains of the Red Queen's castle. Another knight was charged with bringing the ransom note to Marmoreal while the forces of the Queen's rebellion began the quick journey to her old stomping ground.

Alice and Mallyumkin traveled as quickly as they could, the blood trail staying easy enough to follow as it led them into lands and scenery that Alice did not recognize. They traveled for hours until Alice was exhausted. Her lungs were burning – more so than they normally did after this kind of exertion – and her stomach felt strangely sick but she continued on with Mallyumkin who was feeling exhausted as well but not so ill as Alice.

The amount of blood they were following made Alice worry more and more about whether the Hatter was even still alive or not but she refused to let herself think contrawise about it. He had to be alive, she believed it. She was certain she'd have felt his pain if he had… she couldn't even think the word. They continued walking and Alice contemplated what she would do if they found the Hatter. For one thing, if he was still with or trapped by whatever had attacked him, she'd have no way to fight – she didn't have any weapons. But that wouldn't stop her. But secondly, how would he respond to her being there? He didn't want to see her… but she still had to save him. Even if she had to leave Wonderland forever right afterward, she had to make sure the Hatter was ok.

They finally reached a river but after wading through, the trail was entirely lost on the other side. The water must've washed the blood from the Hatter's wounds, they figured, and try as they might they couldn't locate the trail restarting on the other side. Aside from that, they were both exhausted.

Mally collapsed on the bank of the river and reached out to cup water in her little hands, lifting it to her lips and drinking deeply while Alice went a little ways downstream and wretched violently before returning to Mally's side and sitting on the riverbank. "What do we do now?" she asked weakly. Mallumkin shrugged.

"We can't stop," she said with a forced energy, but Alice looked down at her, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"There's no trail, Mally," she said quietly. "We don't know where we're going, I'm entirely lost… We'll never find him at this rate," she said, starting to cry softly.

"We have to," the dormouse said angrily. "We can't stop. We'll find him eventually."

"We do need to rest first though," Alice mumbled, laying down on the bank, reaching out to touch the cool water. Mallyumkin nodded and sat, pulling one of the Hatter's hat pins from her belt. She grabbed up a small stone from the bank and began using it as a sort of whetstone, honing the blunt edge of the hat pit so that it was more of a cutting blade then a stabbing blade. It wasn't long however before the pair heard a sound behind them.

There was a low growl and a rustling of the bushes. Mally jumped to her feet and held her hat-pin sword at the ready, and Alice too stumbled to her feet, facing the noise, unsure of what she could do if it was another of the scary beasts of Wonderland…


	10. Chapter 10

A few hours earlier…

Marmoreal stood in its full restored glory, with a statue of Alice and the Vorpal sword newly having been erected in the front courtyard of the White Queen's palace. Thackery (who was still carrying McTwisp on his back) and Bayard who'd been running full tilt since they'd parted with Alice and Mallyumkin dashed into the courtyard, coming to a well-deserved rest in a heap on the white tile. Several of the Queen's attendants were milling around the courtyard talking to the trees and one of them immediately went to get the Queen, while others went to fetch water for the travelers.

"Bayard! Thackery!" the White Queen Miriana gasped as she hurried into the courtyard, leaning down next to them and gathering McTwisp into her arms. "What's going on? Are you two alright? And McTwisp?"

Thackery sat up with a mad giggle and said, "A little blood and McTwisp is as passed out as a—a—" he was still trying to catch his breath and apparently couldn't find an adequate comparison.

"Blood?" Miriana gasped?

"He's fine, White Queen," Bayard said, panting from the exertion. "He's just fainted is all, at the sight of blood, like Thackery said."

"But whose blood, Bayard?" the White Queen asked fearfully.

"That's why we've come," Bayard said nodding, "It's a long story."

"Oh, my dear boys," Miriana said, standing. "Come, come inside, we'll sit by the fire and you must tell me everything."

***

McTwisp wake up as Thackery and Bayard were settling into the White Queen's sitting room. He was none the worse for wear, albeit a little surprised to be in the castle at Marmoreal. The White Queen pulled an arm chair around so she was facing the two rabbits who sat on a love seat and Bayard who was laying on plush carpet by the fire. "Now, you must tell me what's going on," Miriana said with a nervous sort of urgency.

"The Hatter has-" McTwisp began.

"Alice, Alice, she needs to-" Thackery was shouting.

"That damn Cheshire couldn't keep his-" Bayard said.

"Whoa, whoa, one at time, my boys," the White Queen said, waving her hands. "You mentioned the Hatter, and Alice," she continued, her brow furrowed with worry. "I need to know what you know."

Bayard looked curiously up at the very worried looking queen. "Your Majesty, what's happened?"

But she shook her head. "You three first."

McTwisp hopped down off the loveseat. "Your Majesty, you know that the Hatter hasn't been himself since… You know," he said apologetically, not wanting to imply any blame on Miriana for Alice's departure. "He's only been getting worse. But while we were having tea, he thought… he thought he heard Alice saying his name." Miriana's eyes widened slightly. "But then Chessur, that foolish cat," McTwisp continued a little angrily, "told Tarrant that Alice would never come back, as though he didn't want Tarrant to get his hopes up." The White Queen in all her peacefulness scowled a little.

"And the Hatter believed him," Bayard said sadly. "He went into his house and wouldn't talk to any of us… Well, he spoke briefly with Mallyumkin but apparently didn't say much. He was quite upset, Majesty."

"Then we went to get Alice!" Thackery interjected. "We knew we'd find her! She's the only one who can help the Hatter!"

"And we did find her, Majesty, she's in Underland now."

"Alice is here?" Miriana gasped. "Where?"

"She and Mallyumkin are looking for the Hatter," Bayard said, then backtracked. "When we came back to Whitsend, he was gone, Majesty, and he'd left his hat behind and taken his sword with him," Bayard said sadly, with a puppy-like whine to his voice.

Miriana's mouth gaped as she tried to think which issue to address first. "We need to get Alice to Marmoreal, it's not safe for her out there right now!" she said worriedly. She clapped her hands and one of her attendants came to her side. "Have the Bandersnatch go fetch Alice and Mallyumkin Mouse, he'll be able to find them. Have him bring them back here," she said in a hushed voice to the attendant who then hurried out of the room looking a little fearful. Though the Bandersnatch had become quite friendly since it had assisted Alice, it still terrified the daylights out of most of the inhabitants of Marmoreal, and all of Underland for that matter. Then Miriana turned back to the group who were looking at her with worried curiosity.

"I don't know why Tarrant left Whitsend, but I know where he is now," she said quietly and the words had an ominous ring to them. She pulled a folded piece of paper from the folds of her dress where there must've been a hidden pocket. She unfolded it saying, "I just received this, only a little while before you three arrived." She held it out and read clearly, "'Miriana, I have your precious Hatter in chains and helpless. If you do not put out a Royal Decree that removes my banishment to the Outlands, and deliver a copy of this Decree to my castle at Salazan Grum within three days, I will take off his head! Sincerely, your older, better sister, Eracabeth, the Red Queen.'" Miriana gulped and looked at the others who stared at her in wide-eyed horror.

"Oh NOOOO!" shouted Thackery, jumping around frantically until McTwisp caught a hold of him and calmed him down.

"You see what I mean that Alice shouldn't be out there alone right now," the White Queen said solemnly. "And we must rescue Tarrant." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I do not want to have to issue such a Decree," she said angrily. "Her banishment was the best thing that could have happened to these lands. To have her running around freely would create panic and chaos. We can rescue Tarrant. But if what you've been saying, if the situation with the poor Hatter is as dire as you said, it may very well have to be Alice that rescues him. Otherwise he may not cooperate at all."

The three nodded. "I guess all that we can do now is wait for Alice to get here," McTwisp said quietly with a tinge of fear. Miriana nodded sadly.

"All we can do is wait," she said.

Presently…

Alice stared at the bushes as they rustled and Mallyumkin held her sword at the ready, when out leapt the Bandersnatch. Alice let out a little "Ah!" of surprise but instead of attacking them, he padded over to Alice and nuzzled her arm. He was a little smaller than Alice remembered but then she realized that in Overland, she'd grown a fair amount in the past five years so it was that she was bigger. The Bandersnatch looked at her and then tossed his head back, gesturing for her and Mally to climb onto his back, which to make easier, he bent his knees. "Can you help us find the Hatter?" Alice asked him quietly. He didn't give any sort of response, so Alice shrugged and went to climb up his side when she realized that she wasn't sure if he'd be able to take the extra weight of her more grown-up self in addition to Mallyumkin. "Hold on a moment, friend," she said, pulling out the bottle of Pishalver potion.

She tipped it to her lips and drank just a bit, shrinking slightly, back to the size she was when she was in Underland the last time, but as the potion went through her it burned terribly. She winced and bit her lip, but still cried out a little, nearly dropping the bottle. "Are you ok?" Mallyumkin asked with what seemed like genuine concern. Alice nodded, wiping a drop of the potion from the corner of her mouth and shaking her head to clear it.

"Let's go," she said, climbing up the side of the Bandersnatch as Mallyumkin climbed on behind her. The Bandersnatch took off at a run and the bouncing motion of his gait didn't help Alice feel less dizzy. She felt contrawise like she was getting sicker and sicker. She held on tight though, one hand firmly nestled in the Bandersnatch's fur while the other grasped the Hatter's hat to keep it from falling off. She eventually realized they were heading toward Marmoreal but had very little hope that the Hatter was there. More likely that she'd been summoned there by the White Queen. "Hopefully she'll know what to do," she muttered as they got closer to the castle.


End file.
